Kaisinel's Fantasy
by seinka
Summary: Beritra is in rage. Those daevas took away what he considered his possession and he plans his revenge. Shien suffers from being closed in a fortress full of Elyos. May has a secret which is dangerous to not only Elysea, but all aliance. And Chellia's mind is still broken. Will Kaisinel's talent be enough to save her? Or will she become even more twisted? Fifth of The Godstone Tales
1. Chapter 01

"Mirror, mirror, she must be seen. What is she doing? Where is my queen?" Beritra ordered the artifact in hope it will give him at least one postive information, since it was unable to find any functional or repairable portal leading to Hyperion. But he was disappointed again. The woman he made his queen was still in a bed, as the previous day, but the bed was different. And around her there weren't Dragonbound, they were daevas! How could that happen! Yesterday she was still in Sillus fortress! No army was marching there, no one had conquered it. How could she disappear from a fortress guarded by half of his army?!

He raged. After few moments he left his room, went to the roof and changed his form. Venting his anger on his underlings was one thing, but punishing them for their incompetence was something completely different. And he will make sure they'll remember that.

~ x ~

He was dreaming. Since he returned from the fotress occupied by Balaur he's been dreaming. There was fire. There was always fire, but it didn't feel hostile and burning but rather friendly and warm. And then there was the kiss. Every time, just before he woke up a perfect person appeared in his dream and kissed him. He always tried to spot how she looked like, but the more he tried, the faster the dream ended. He could only remember a red colour of a sunset. And he woke up. He was resting in his bed, staring at the ceiling and remembering the dream. A kiss among fires. He wasn't even sure if it really happened. He was half delirious and his last memory were two hazy figures flying towards him.

"So you're awake, young man, hm?" an older strict nurse entered his room and put a tray with soup and bread on a small dresser next to his bed. Then she checked his temperature and irises. "You finally look alive today. Eat it before it gets cold," she ordered him and left the room. It was harsh behaviour, but he couldn't blame her. He was an Elyos inside of Asmodian base, any portion of hostility was expected. He recollected the past few days. They brought him here ten days ago, feverish, delirious and with almost all his organs malfunctioning. Once they stabilised him and his fever dropped off, the Empyrean lords immediately demanded interrogation. He would expect only lady Triniel's visit, but also lords Vaizel, Marchutan and Nezekan came, all of them wanted to hear what happened in the Sillus fortress. Fortunately for him they all came at once so he didn't have to repeat his report. They weren't happy to hear that, but before they left, lord Nezekan sincerely thanked him for bringing Chellia back, even if it was against her will. After their questioning ended, no one came to visit him. Except the old nurse, who considered him an annoyance. But despite of her cold behaviour she treated him as every other patient. He didn't suffer from lack of food or medical care here, the only thing he missed was warm word. And the ending of his dream.

He sat up and put the food plate on his lap. The soup was hot and filling, but not too demanding for his body to digest. Even the taste was surprisingly good. He was terribly hungry, but controlled himself and ate slowly. It would be no good if he returned the meal after he just finished it. Half an hour later he was still alone in his room, so he tried to get up and walk a bit. He was trying since the day he fully regained consciousness and to his surprise, it wasn't as bad as he expected. He was weak, of course, but he was able to walk across his room and back to his bed without collapsing. It drained him, but his muscles, no matter how feeble, obeyed his will until he was in his bed again. He planned to keep these exercises secret from the old nurse, but she found out pretty quickly. She didn't scold him, only ordered him to go back to the bed and became even grumpier than before.

"It's good to see you're recovering well," a voice used to command said from the door.

"Oh... good morning, general Vard," Shade turned towards his visitor.

"I have few questions for you."

"I thought the interrogation was over," the assassin objected.

"Yes, the Empyrean lords have all the information they wanted from you," the general nodded. "But that doesn't mean I do."

"Alright, general, ask then," Shade smiled politely and sat at the edge of his bed. He still wasn't in a shape good enough.

"Why did you choose Danuar Spire over Kaisinel's Beacon?"

"They cut me off at Torn land, if I were alone, I would sneak around them, but I wasn't. Danuar Spire was my best chance how to get her from Beritra. I knew there were those truce negotiations, I didn't know the outcome, but even if we still were at war, I would rather hand her over to Asmodians than Balaur."

"What happened at the crossroad? How did your pursuers die?" the commander of this fortress was frowning. Apparently that event has cost him something, but Shade couldn't tell what.

"I'm sorry, general, but I don't remember. My only thought was to keep running, but then I saw some people, daevas I think. I wanted to ask for help, but I don't know if I did. All I remember after that was fire. But I have no idea if it was real or my mind was just burning," he kept the kiss secret, there was no need to tell this Asmodian about that.

"That's all I needed. And since you're healthy enough now, you're leaving tomorrow. You can walk freely away, or be teleported to Kamar or Kaisinel's Beacon, that's up to you," Vard told him of his decision and left the room.

~ x ~

She was dreaming. Since the day she arrived at Kaisinel's Beacon, she had the same dream over and over. It was full of fire. Everything was burning and the wildfire consumed every single thing in its way. It started with Balaur, then some unknown Elyos and Asmodian soldiers and then familiar faces appeared. That templar called Wolf, then Canta, then her brother, then... NO! When the face of the current Lady of Life was surrounded by those hungry flames, she woke up with icy fear clutching her heart. She was sitting on her bed, sweat was soaking into her night dress and tears were flowing from her eyes like waterfalls.

"I don't have that much power," she kept whispering in order to calm down. "I don't have that much power."

"What's wrong?" Canta sleepily rolled on her bed on the other side of their room and tried to see through the darkness of Katalamian night. "Bad dream again?"

"Uh... hm..."

"And will you tell me about it? It could help you."

"That's none of your business, Canta. Go back to sleep," Shien replied without even looking at her.

"You're wrong, it _is_ my business," the songweaver got up and half blind crossed the room to sit next to her roommate. "You're my friend, Shien... well, at least _I_ consider you friend, I know you don't like that idea. But our spells resonated..."

"Don't talk about that! And I'm _not_ your friend!" Shien raised her voice and ran out of the room. She was running through the half empty halls of Kaisinel's Beacon, her bare feet flapped on the cold stone floor. As if it wasn't enough that she was alone in the fortress full of those sun-blasted, white-winged, cruel Elyos! No, there was that dream of destruction, one dream repeating every night or any time she closed her eyes. She tried not to sleep at all, but it didn't help. After two days she was so tired she just lost her consciousness and the dream returned again. There was no escape from it. She stopped near one of the windows and looked outside. The moon, which was never seen in Asmodae, was casting its dim silver light over the land and making the night as bright as Asmodian day.

"Shien, tell me, what's wrong," the young songweaver appeared out of nowhere, she had a cloak over her night dress and her harp ready in her hands. "I'm really trying to help you."

"Why?" she snapped at her. "Why would _any Elyos_ try to help _me_?"

"Because you're a good person and you're suffering. Don't think I didn't notice it. You're pale, you wake up every night in tears... It's so sad, Shien. Do you really hate this place that much?"

"It's full of Elyos," Shien replied bitterly. "How can I _ever_ feel comfortable here?"

"But we are not all that bad. We are just people, like you or... anyone..." Canta was puzzled. "I really wish you trusted me, I..." she took a deep breath. "I know you're afraid of your power. But you don't need to be!"

"I'm not afraid," the sorceress objected. But it was a lie. Deep inside her soul she was always terrified of being unable to control the power she had. And the _resonance_, or as Canta called it, _unison_, just triggered something and those fears surfaced. "And you... mind your own business."

"As I told you, your health _is_ my business."

"No, it's not!"

"Could you return to our room? I want to talk with you in private, without being overheard by some random people," the songweaver suggested with serious face. Shien has never seen her with an expression like this.

"Fine," she gave up. It was getting cold being barefoot here anyway.

They returned into their room in silence. Shien immediately crawled under her blanket, but Canta took a lamp and brought it to her.

"Can you light it up?"

"I can see fine," Shien refused.

"But I cannot. And I don't like speaking with someone whos face I can't see. Please, Shien, light it up."

The sorceress sat and stretched her hand towards the lamp. After few seconds she withdrew it and shook her head.

"No, I won't do that."

"As I thought," Canta sighed sadly and put the lamp on the table. Then she took her harp and played few tones, until a little flame appeared inside the lamp and the warm light filled the room. "Now, tell me what's worrying you," she smiled and sat next to her _friend_.

"You wanted to talk with me, so tell me what do you want and don't ask stupid questions," Shien frowned.

"Alright, but I might be wrong with my theories, it would be better if you told me. You're acting strange, Shien. I know it's hard for you to be here, I felt terrible when I was in Danuar Spire and it was only for a short time," she sighed. "But that's not the saddest thing. I've heard you're a good sorceress. Especially tallented with fire spells. And I confirmed that when we were leaving Danuar Spire. But since then you haven't cast a single elemental spell, no fire, no ice, no wind... And few days before, when the Balaur attacked this place, instead of fighting them you just created a shield! Where have all your spells gone?"

"You have a ton of sorcerers here, you don't need my spells."

"It's not about if we need you or not!" Canta raised her voice in anger. "It's about you being hurt by something and I want to help you! And don't make excuses like '_I don't want your help 'cause you're Elyos_', lady May is Elyos too and you were willing to defend her even at the cost of your own life!"

"Don't drag her into this, she had nothing to do with it."

"But she also cares about you and she will be very sad, when she finds out you're like this."

"Don't you dare to tell her anything about me."

"I don't have to, she'll read the reports from the Beacon," Canta shrugged. "Now, tell me, please, what's going on. Why are you waking up in the middle of night and repeating '_I don't have that much power_'?"

"You heard that?"

"We're in the same room, of course I heard that."

"I... I have nightmares," Shien admitted. "About that day we... defeated those Balaur at the crossroad. I thought I had it under control, but when I unleashed that spell, it was... too strong, that power... if it was mine, then I... I don't want to hurt anyone with it, if it goes out of control again."

"But you did have it under control," Canta objected. "You burned only those Balaur. We stayed safe. Even Shade and that girl he carried, they didn't have single burn on them. I'm sorry, that I caused this, Shien. But I panicked and I just knew you couldn't defeat them alone, so I tried to give you more power, to feed your spell with mine... And you controlled it perfectly!"

"No, Canta, I... I should have known what the spell will do before I threw it at them. Even if half of it was your power, not mine, I should have known what happens. But I didn't. That's the worst part. I didn't know what I was casting."

"I know you didn't expect the _unison_, but otherwise you did great. The Balaur are dead and we're all alive. At least I hope Shade made it, he looked really bad."

"Shade? You know that man?" Shien herself didn't know anyone called Shade, but it was obvious who is Canta talking about. There was only one non-Balaur man on that crossroad at that time. And it was about time to change the topic.

"Yes, me, Wolf, Shade and few others who Ascended in the same month had the initial _Daeva lessons_ together," the songweaver smiled. "The flying lessons were the amazing. I was really bad at flying, but we had fun. But after all that we went our separate ways. Wolf became one of Miragent's Holy Templars, Shade is now one of the best spies and he gets orders from lady Ariel herself. There was one really nice guy, I think his name was Freedo, but I've never seen him after that. I think he went to Inggison. He was a sorcerer like you," Canta's smile became a bit sad. "Everyone I met there achieved something they could be proud of. But me... I wasted my life in safety of Sanctum, I'm nothing..."

"What? Who told you that?" Shien asked in disbelief. "You're not nothing!"

"Than what am I?" she looked at her helplessly.

"Ehm... not _what_, but _who_. You're not a thing, you're a person."

"Yeah, person... right..."

"Come here," Shien hugged her. "I guess we're meant to stick together, we're both helpless..."

"It sounds really bad if you say it like this..."

"It sounds as you want to hear it. Now go back to sleep, dawn is near and we'll need to be fresh tomorrow."

"But... will you be alright?" Canta looked at her friend with concern.

"Maybe," the sorceress shrugged. "I don't know. But I don't have this nightmare more than once a night."

~ x ~

"No, I won't allow that. Not even if it's you asking for it," Triniel resolutely shook her head and angrily glared at Kahrun, who was sitting behind his desk and watching her with calm of his own.

"Your spiritmasters were unable to cure her, so there's no other way," her son objected. "And I don't like her being Beritra's toy. That's dangerous not only for her, but also for everyone around."

"I will find the cure myself, I will even give up my life for it, but I won't let that freak touch her," the Lady of Death was adamant.

"He won't hurt her, Triniel," Nezekan said.

"But he tried to kill her, you said that yourself!"

"Calm down, please. There's no way I would let anyone to hurt Chellia. And she's hurt right now, she needs cure. Not for her only, but for all of us. Beritra's Balaur increased their attacks on Danuar Spire and Kaisinel's Beacon after she was taken from Sillus. We need to know what she knows. We need her on our side now."

"And what side is that, Nezekan? Elyos?" a jolt of fear of losing her daughter again struck her heart.

"Yes, Elyos," the Lord of Justice replied firmly. "Or Asmodian. Or Reian. I have no problem with either of the three, it's up to her to choose. With you or Kahrun, she'll be in a good care. But I _do_ have a problem when my daugther is siding with the Balaur. I trust Kaisinel enough to let him look into her mind and repair any damage Beritra has left there."

"But he hates her..."

"I asked him already, he gave me his word he won't do her any harm," Nezekan took her hand gently. "If you wish, I will be there the whole time when he'll be looking at her, you can be there too. But he's the best and he can help her."

"I don't trust him, Nezekan, I... can't trust him."

"Mother, stop this," Kahrun said suddenly. "Stop worrying about her as if she was a little baby. She's a daeva. As I understand what you told me, Kaisinel already looked into her mind, he will then know what to look for. I agree with father, we have no other option."

"Even you, Kahrun..."

"And after she's cured, I'd like to have her here in Kamar," the Reian leader continued. "With her status as a child of two Empyrean lords she should remain in a neutral land, until she grows and learns enough. And I want to keep secret I'm her brother for now."

"You're right," Triniel gave up. "I'll give orders to general Vard to expect Kaisinel's arrival."

"Thank you, Triniel," Nezekan smiled with relief. "I will protect her no matter what."

"I know. I will be there too. Take care, both of you," with these words the Lady of Death left the office.

"I've never seen her like this," Kahrun looked at his father. "She looks so fragile, as if she should break at any moment."

"When she lost you, it broke her heart. And then the same thing happened with Chellia. And though she would never admit it, she's still grieving over Yustiel. They were very close before the Cataclysm," Nezekan explained. "I can't even imagine what's going through her mind right now."

"But you're worried too, right?"

"Yes, I'm worried sick," the Lord of Justice nodded. "But I can trust Kaisinel he'll do his best. I can trust him he'll never hurt Chellia. Triniel can't do that. There's too much hatred between them."

"Care to share?"

"No, Kahrun, that's between them. Even I don't dare to interfere in it. I'd better go, the sooner I see Kaisinel, the sooner he can start."

~ x ~

The old nurse brought Shade his old clothes, armour, weapons and everything he had the day he collapsed in front of Danuar Spire and let him dress up. He thanked her and enjoyed the feeling of wearing something else than generic infirmary shirt. Everything was cleaned, the weapons were properly polished and nothing was missing. Even the few very rare poisons he carried around on his missions were on their places. He changed the dress, tied up the straps on his armour and tried his grip on the weapons. He sighed in relief, the feeling of familiarity didn't disappear and he could use the weapons as naturally as he did before. The only thing he lacked was physical strength.

He sat on the bed and patiently waited for someone to take him out of here. He would be able to find the way if he tried, but he decided not to, as roaming around alone in an Asmodian fortress could look suspicious. The truce was still too fresh, he didn't want to risk accusations of spying. After half an hour the door opened and the old nurse entered the room accompanied by a guard.

"You're leaving the Spire," the nurse said. "We can arrange you teleport to Kaisinel's Beacon or Kamar, or you can walk away on your own."

"Beacon then, thank you," Shade nodded and followed her. Originally he wanted to go to Sarpan and from there back to Elysea, where he was ordered to spend few weeks in training and recuperating his strength, but the dialogue between him and general Vard made him change his plans. He was told the people he met on that crossroad, were on their way to the Beacon, so he hoped to find them there and finally get to know what happened. If the general himself was distressed like this about that, something really strange must have happened there.

Without other words the nurse led him out of the fortress to the teleport station. There she instructed the Elyos sorcerer and within few minutes Shade appeared in front of Kaisinel's Beacon. It was quite calming to see the Elyos around him. In the Spire he learnt that he met the one person who was supposed to be stationed here for creating portals to the Asmodian fortress. It shouldn't be so hard to find one Asmodian in a place full of Elyos. He still had time, so he decided to do a bit of sightseeing and absorb the current mood here before he starts to act.

"Shade!" he heard a familiar voice and suddenly someone hugged him.

"Oh, Canta, what are you doing here?" he was really surprised, the songweaver never wanted to leave Sanctum.

"I was transferred here," she smiled and let him go. "But more importantly are you okay? Well, you look pale, but otherwise good, a bit weak, though, but they wouldn't let you go if you weren't, right? I was so scared whenIsawyoucollapsingthere but the Balaur were so closesoIhadtohelpShientoget rid of them and then Ihadnoaethertohealyou, so I ran for the clerics tothefortressandShienkeptyoualivesomehow... what?" she frowned when she saw him sighing.

"You should pay more attention on what you're saying, I could understand _Balaur_, _rid of them_ and _clerics_," he smiled. "So why don't you start again, slowly and tell me how do you know I was... in a bad shape?"

"Uh, well, that's what I'm trying to say... I saw you collapsing on that crossroad."

"What?" Shade just stared at her for a moment. He liked Canta, she was cute, but she was a city person, she never understood someone could care about different thing than pretty dress, gossips, art... dangers of a warzone were completely unknown to her. "You want to say you were there when the Balaur chasing me were killed?"

"Yes and I helped Shien to kill them," she looked miffed. "Things changed a bit, I'm learning how to use aether to cast spells now. But if you don't believe me, find someone else who can tell you this story."

"I _do_ believe you, Canta," he said with calming voice. "If anyone else told me _you_ fought the Balaur, I wouldn't believe them, but I can tell you're not making this up. It's just unexpected, okay? Now tell me what happened. How did you end up on that crossroad?"

"Well, that's a bit long story, let's go sit somewhere, there's nice view from that wall," she smiled and dragged him to that place. _Canta willingly sitting on a wall without a pillow under her. Wow._ "So, it started in Kamar. After that peace conference lady Lumiel assigned Shien to Kaisinel's Beacon, so if someone needs to get quickly from here to Danuar Spire, she'll create a portal there. You must have met someone from our side there, right?"

"Yeah," he nodded.

"And me..." she sighed. "I realized I was really being stupid since my Ascension so I asked lady May to assign me to Kamar or somewhere where I can be more useful than in Sanctum. So she sent me here, with Shien, to keep an eye on her. I heard she, I mean lady May now, went directly against lady Lumiel's wishes to send Shien here alone. But that would be complete disaster! Shien hates the Elyos, she doesn't trust us. Well, she trusts me a bit, because I talked with her in Kamar, but even with me here she's still suffering. And I don't know what should I do to cheer her up. She's a genius sorceress, at least I think so, I haven't seen many good sorcerers in action, but since that _event_ on that crossroad she refuses to cast any spell! Well, except the portal and some kind of shield..." Canta shrugged helplessly.

"What happened on the crossroad?"

"She killed the Balaur. Well, at first she tried to do it alone, but there were too many of them and she didn't have enough power. So I tried to fuel her spell with mine. She used fire, it was easy for me to create and she could control it perfectly. And suddenly our spells resonated. What she threw at those Balaur far exceeded her and mine powers combined. It was amazing, she got them all in one single spell! And then we were both out of aether and I couldn't heal you, so I ran back to the fortress to get clerics and Shien said she'll try to keep you alive... I don't know what she did, but I'm glad it worked."

"So this Shien saved my life? Will you introduce me to her?"

"Why?" Canta looked at him with suspicion. "I just told you she hates the Elyos... And she has a good reason for that."

"I just want to thank her. It doesn't happen every day to be saved by an Asmodian."

"Ah, alright, I can do that. But be nice, okay?"

"I'm always nice."

"Yeah, sure. Ha! There she is! Wait here, I'll bring her," Canta jumped down from the low wall and ran towards a person who just stepped out from the fortress. Shade recognized red hair and held his breath for a moment. _Could it be true?_ That person in his dream had also hair in the colour of a sunset. They came back to him, Canta with shining smile, the other woman was frowning and her face was full of doubts. Shade jumped off the wall to greet them.

"So, Shien, this is Shade, I told you about him," Canta introduced them. "And Shade, this is Shien, she saved your life."

"Thank you, miss Shien," the assassin smiled, gently took her hand and kissed it. "It's an honour to meet you."

"You're welcome," she replied, but her voice was more formal and less sincere. "And the name _Shien_ is only for people who know me well. For you it's _Shienar_."

"My apologies, miss Shienar," he didn't stop smiling. "If you don't mind, it would be nice to get to know you more."

Sparks appeared in the sorceress's eyes and her expression froze.

"Go to hell," she turned around and walked away.

"I already did," Shade replied and his voice got serious. "And you pulled me out. You have my thanks for that."

Shien's muscles tensed as if she was deciding if she should turn back, but after a split second she increased her speed and disappeared into the fortress.

"Why did you do that, Shade?" Canta looked at him helplessly. "I told you she hates the Elyos and you... you just _had to_ try to seduce her."

"Hm..." he nodded, still watching the entrance to the fortress. "Why does she hate the us that much?"

"It's..." Canta bit her lip. "I'm sorry, I can't tell you. It's really bad."

"Yeah, I can see that," Shade muttered. "Alright, time to go. I'll go to our regular teleporter, I think asking miss Shien if I can use her portal would get me very evil gaze."

"You haven't changed. Nope. Not at all."

~ x ~

The daevas at Danuar Spire didn't look happy when the Empyrean Lord of Justice stepped out of the portal closely followed by the Lord of Illusions. Of course there was the Lady of Death waiting for them, but there have been rumors that, to put it mildly, she has not been feeling well since that girl's arrival. Some would say she has lost her mind.

"Where is she?" Kaisinel went right to the point of their visit.

"Follow me," Triniel turned around and walked into the tower, where she led them through few corridors until they reached the infirmary department. Before opening the door she stopped and looked at the master of spirits. "I want your word you won't hurt her."

"I will not attempt to do her any harm," Kaisinel frowned and silently added: "She's Nezekan's too, in case you forgot."

Triniel glared at him, but she opened the door without any other words and entered the room. As the curtains on the window were drawn, the light in there was dim, but it was enough even for the Elyos to recognize the interior. The girl was sleeping on her bed and from the flow of aether he instantly knew it was no natural sleep. But that was expected. When she was awake she was repeatedly trying to escape and return to Beritra. Kaisinel watched the girl for few moments. Even in sleep her expression was full of pain. That wasn't right. No one could possibly suffer this much while sleeping, unless there wasn't something serious happening in her mind. Which was the reason why he came here in the first place. But he didn't imagine it would be this bad.

"No matter what happens, don't disturb me," he turned to Triniel. "You can stay, but if the procedure is interrupted, it may kill us both."

"I'm not asking miracles of you, Kaisinel," Nezekan said. "Just do your best to save her."

"She's young, her mind is still untrained. I believe I can bring her back," the lord of Illusions replied and sat on a chair next to the bed. "I only hope she _wants_ to come back," he added, softly touched the girl's forehead and delved into her mind.


	2. Chapter 02

The first thing he sensed when he got through the girl's natural mind defenses, was cold. His mental image materialised in a middle of snow covered plains. His surroundings confirmed what he already thought; the girl's mind wasn't altered by spell, it was broken by steady mental pressure. Broken mind can be repaired, but it takes a lot more effort and bears more risk than simply undo a spell. He had to find the core. Every mind had its core where the personality and source of all emotions resided. He scanned the plains and discovered a big construction made of ice behind him in approximately two hunderd meters distance. Nothing else disturbed the monotony of the mindscape. Sure, he could fly or just float in the air or even teleport there, but he prefered the most natural movement, as it required only minimum of his concentration.

When he came near, the structure gained shape of an icy cage. To his surprise it was designed to keep things in and not out as he would expect in a broken mind. Countless spikes grew from the bars and pointed inside. A figure dressed in rich black dress stood in the middle and when he approached, she opened her sky-blue eyes.

"Ah, a guest," she said. "Or should I call you _intruder_?"

Kaisinel didn't respond immediately. Instead he watched her carefully and tried to find the remnants of Chellia's personality which he saw the last time he sought through her memories. That person in the cage had her face, but nothing else looked similar.

"Why are you in this cage, Chellia?" he asked.

"My name is Apsu," she replied and more spikes appeared on the bars. Something felt off, but he couldn't tell what.

"No," he objected. "Your name is Chellia. You are a daeva, a child of two Empyrean lords, Nezekan and Triniel."

"I AM APSU!" she screamed. "I am lord Beritra's queen!"

"The Dragon Lord Apsu is dead for millenia. She was killed by Tiamat in a battle for power."

"NO!" the woman clutched her head in her palms and more and more spikes were growing out of the bars.

"Go away... go away..." Kaisinel heard a weak voice coming out of the cage. What he thought was just a pile of snow now moved and a very young girl with Chellia's face was looking at him and crying. "Leave me alone."

The Lord of Illusions froze with shock. He had seen countless mental diseases and instabilities, but never such personality split. Of course some people tried to protect their minds by either closing themselves in or creating another part, but never combined. Chellia apparently did that. She closed herself in this cage, guarded it against escape and then gave birth to this Apsu part. But why would she do that? Did Beritra force her? Yes, that's the only explanation. Beritra had no use for Chellia, he needed Apsu. In order for her to survive, she had to become what he wanted. And she decided to preserve her original conscience by closing it inside where he couldn't find it. It was clever, but extremely dangeours. The only way how to return was to make the little girl accept the Apsu part as her own.

"Chellia, tell me, what happened."

"Why?" the little girl sniffed. "Are you here to kill me? If so, please kill her first."

"No, I'm here to help you. I promised your father I will bring you back unharmed. Let me help you."

"I don't need your help!"

"If you stay like this, you will die."

"I should have never been born, you said that yourself," more tears flowed from her eyes and more spikes grew on the cage. This time from both sides. "Please, kill me. And the other one too."

"Calm down and listen, Chellia," Kaisinel tried to keep self-confident image, but he had no idea how to talk with someone who was this hurt. "By giving birth to you your parents broke Aion's law, but you are alive now and no one has the right to kill you just because you were born."

"I don't believe you! You tried to do that!"

"Yes, I know. I was wrong. When I saw you, I got furious. Even from that first sight it was clear who you are. You have Nezekan's eyes, but otherwise you look like younger version of Triniel. And I hate her. I hate her so much I wanted to kill you just to hurt her."

"And why did you changed your mind now?"

"Nezekan stopped me back then. And since he already knows about you, killing you would hurt him too. And I won't allow that."

"Why? Do you love him?"

Kaisinel sighed.

"Yes, Chellia, I do love him."

"So all your hatred towards her and me is just... because you're jealous?"

"You can say it like that too. Now, do you believe me I don't want to hurt you anymore?" a hint of anger appeared in his voice.

"Uhm... maybe..."

"Alright, then tell me what happened. Why did you split your mind?"

"I..." the little girl started shaking and looked at the Apsu part, who in the meantime became half transparent. That was good, it meant she still didn't play the dominant role in this mind. "She killed Cyhiraeth. And she helped Beritra to get weapons against us. She's not part of me!"

"It's very dangerous for you to be like this, you have to merge back to your original self."

"No, I won't do that! She's not me! She's someone else! I would never help him, I would never aimed that weapon at my friend..."

"I know," he nodded. "You wouldn't hurt someone you care about. And you cared about her a lot, right?"

"She was my friend," little Chellia sobbed.

Kaisinel's body suddenly flickered.

"What are you doing?" the girl asked with fear in her eyes.

"I don't have much time left here. The spell I cast is extremely exhausting. I'll pass out soon."

"So you won't help me?"

"Chellia, listen. I know you're in great pain, I can see it all around here. I also know you're strong and you can overcome this. You need your mind to become one again and then break this cage. What happened while you were captured by Beritra, wasn't your fault. It was him who forced you, he _is_ that powerful. Please, come back to us as Chellia, not Apsu. Your parents are worried about you. And... if it's revenge what you want, you can help us against Beritra."

After the last sentence his concentration broke and everything around him faded into blackness.

~ x ~

After an hour of Kaisinel's trance state Nezekan begun to worry. He knew the master of illusions could spend even more in one's mind, but this time it was his daughter and she was in danger. Few more minutes passed. Suddenly Kaisinel's body twitched and few drops of blood fell from his nose onto the blanket.

"Chelli..." Triniel made a step forward, but Nezekan stopped her.

"Don't, we can't disturb him right now," he whispered. His love just nodded and anxiously watched their sleeping girl.

The following moments felt like infinite. Finally the Lord of Illusions took a deep breath and opened his eyes. Triniel immediately knelt beside the bed and caught Chellia's hand. After few moments, during which the girl still haven't moved, she turned towards Kaisinel.

"Why can't she wake up?"

"Let her sleep for now," Kaisinel replied. "But don't renew the spell, it will be the best if she wakes up naturally."

"Will she be alright now?" Nezekan asked with his usual calm, but deep inside he was as worried as Triniel.

"I don't know," the mind expert shook his head. "I did what I could, but it was far worse than I expected. I know it will sound like a cliché, but it's up to her now. You should stay here, or someone she trusts, she shouldn't be alone when she wakes up."

"I'll stay," Triniel decided and looked at Chellia again. "The spell should wear off in few hours. Thank you for your help."

"I'll escort Kaisinel to Elysea and I'll be right back."

"No need, Nezekan, if you want to stay here, I'll find my way out myself."

"Will you be alright? That spell looked very exhausting."

"Yes, I'll be fine. I'm a Seraphim lord, not some candy doll," Kaisinel frowned. "And I'm going only to the Beacon, I have some things to deal with there. Stay with your daughter, she will need you."

"Alright, just be careful."

Kaisinel nodded and left the room. The way to the teleporter was very easy to remember and quite short, but after few steps he stopped to take a deep breath. He was tired from the spell, but it wasn't the cause of his sudden need of air. Chellia called him _jealous_. He didn't like the meaning of that word. He knew his hatred for Triniel was always too intense to be reasonable, but still he hated the label _jealous_. That's why he let Nezekan stay with his family. He took few more deep breaths and continued his way out of the Spire.

After Kaisinel left, Nezekan gently helped Triniel to sit on a chair instead of kneeling beside the bed and brought a chair for himself too. Then he took her around her shoulders and silently watched their girl.

"I'm sorry, Nezekan," Triniel said still holding Chellia's hand.

"Don't be, Triniel."

"I know you're suffering too," she continued without looking at him. "And I know I should support you, but I... everyone thinks I'm strong, they _expect_ me to be strong and I though I was, but since Yuffie died, I... I can't... I have never considered she could leave for good."

"I miss her too," Nezekan sighed sadly. The fact that Triniel called Yustiel like this meant she loved her sister very much and even though they became enemies, it didn't change.

"I remember when we first met, the three of us, before Aion has chosen us. We were in hurry, but when she saw you lying on the ground and dying, she started healing you and refused to leave until you got better. She was the complete opposite of me, I would have left you there."

"I know, Triniel, you said that the moment I woke up," he smiled.

"She made amazing tea back then. She loved making tea, even after her Ascension between all that fighting she still found time to make tea for us. I haven't tasted it since the Cataclysm. I wanted to, but I was too proud to talk with her as a sister. If I did, she would still be here and Chellia wouldn't go to Inggison..."

"Triniel," Nezekan caught her by her shoulders and forced her to look into his eyes. "It wasn't your fault. Every one of us could do something in the past that would make things much better, but we didn't. It's the past. It should be me who lead the Storm legion to Morheim instead of Deltras. If _I _was there, I could talk some sense into Zikel and this war didn't have to even start."

"But that's something completely different," she objected.

"No, it's the same. Would you blame Zikel for falling in love with May? And then asking Yustiel for help when May was dying?"

"No," she shook her head.

"Then, please, don't blame yourself either," he caressed her cheek. "I know you loved her and you miss her dearly. You can mourn as much as you want, there's nothing wrong with that. But don't blame yourself. Yustiel didn't blame you either. She would be miffed that you didn't tell her about her lovely niece, but that's all."

"Nezekan, I... thank you," Triniel finally smiled and gave him a light kiss. "I'll mourn later, I must be strong for Chellia right now."

"You won't be alone, I'll be here for the both of you."

"I know," she turned back to her daughter and held her hand again. She was still concerned about Chellia's state, but Nezekan's arm around her shoulders gave her strange feeling of peace she haven't felt in a long time.

It took several more minutes before Chellia's right eyelid shivered and she slowly woke up.

"Chellia," Triniel got up from the chair and sat onto the bed next to the girl. "How are you feeling?"

"I..." she was confused. "You know me?"

"This is Triniel," Nezekan said. "Your mother, Chellia."

"My... mother?" the girl looked at the Lady of Death. "Mother..." tears appeared in her good eye. "I so wanted to meet you."

~ x ~

May looked at a plate with her breakfast and sighed. Then she took a sip from her cup of tea and returned to the paperwork she had to do. She felt guilty for eating so little in the last few days, but even looking at food made her stomach go on strike, unless she was really hungry. She didn't find any traces of illness in herself so she blamed the stress and exhaustion from the conference. Someone knocked on the door.

"Come in, please."

"My lady," her servant carefully made one step into the room and bowed. "Lord Vaizel wishes to visit you."

"Send him in," May smiled. She still found it weird to be served like this, especially when some servants looked like they're afraid of her, but she could do nothing better than smile. They were happy when they saw their lady pleased.

"Hey, May! How're ya doing?" Vaizel entered her office in a good mood.

"Hello, Vaizel, what brings you here?"

"I was just around here and I thought you'd like to see me," he grinned.

"Seriously, Vaizel, I know you visit Sanctum only when you have to..."

"You're no fun, May. Ah, well, I finally found the time to question that Lora girl. Ya know, since she attacked you, I had to be there personally to show them I take it seriously and stuff."

"Oh," May looked at him in surprise. "What did you find out?"

"First I researched her background. She was working here in the Lyceum, timid girl but very devoted to Yustiel. And when Yustiel died, she couldn't handle it and collapsed. Then some woman whom she has never seen before offered her to join Lepharists and promised her justice or something. The rest was the same as that templar wrote into his report, she regrets what she's done and she doesn't know the location of their hideout."

"What will you do with her?"

"That's why I came to you. Some call for death as a punishment for attacking a Seraphim lady, but considering what happened in Sarpan, I don't know. The Asmodians didn't execute that sorceress for burning Zikel either."

"She was just protecting me," May sighed. "I agree Lora must be punished, but execution won't give her chance to learn from her mistake. And she didn't attack me from an ill will, the Lepharists used her grief against her. Could she describe the woman who lured her?"

"Yes," Vaizel nodded. "But that description fits to half of Sanctum."

"Hm, okay. She's a daeva, right? Could we... send her somewhere?"

"Yeah, we can leave her few months in the prison and depending on her behaviour let her serve somewhere for half wages. Of course all ranks and titles she has will be removed. Not that she has many of them."

"That sounds appropriate."

"Good, I'll inform Perento to take care of it. And, by the way," the Lord of Freedom looked at the plate with unfinished breakfast. "Are you feeling well?"

"Of course I'm feeling well, why do you ask?"

"This seems to be too little for lunch."

"That's breakfast," May frowned. "I can't eat it all at once, especially in the morning, but it's just stress. I'll be fine, don't worry."

"Stress, you say?" Vaizel gave her a thoughtful look. "And you feel sick in the morning? Are you pregnant?"

"What? Pregnant? Don't say nonsenses like that, Vaizel."

"It's not a nonsense," he objected with a smirk. "Ask Triniel. And considering what you and Zikel did in Sarpan and how often, it's quite possible."

"You were spying on us?" May blushed.

"Pff, I didn't have to, it was quite obvious," he laughed. "So, are you sure you're not pregnant?"

"I don't know, I haven't checked..." she put her palm on her belly and cast a simple spell to find out if Vaizel's guess was correct. After few seconds her face became pale. "I'm pregnant... What should I do?"

"I don't know what _you_ should do, but _I_'m going to Asmodae to have a drink with the new daddy," he grinned.

"Please, don't!" May stopped him. "I mean... have a drink if you want, but don't tell Zikel. Yet. Don't tell anyone, please. I... I'll tell them myself when I'm ready."

"Hm, but my silence can cost you something," Vaizel reached across the desk and touched her cheek.

"No, Vaizel, please, don't..." May begun to panic.

"Nah," the lord of Freedom laughed and went to the door. "I don't have a death wish. I won't tell anyone, unless I get serious reason. Take care."

_I will have a baby. Zikel's baby. How will he react if I tell him? And the others... it's against the law. Will they want me to... no, I can't tell them. Not yet._

~ x ~

The dream he used to have in Danuar Spire returned occasionally, but now the person who kissed him had a face. This night she had not only a face, but also a full body and very interesting tiny dress. She was hot, as expected from a fire sorceress. Shade still couldn't move, so he only watched her when she walked closer, knelt next to him and kissed him with passion hotter than the fire around. He forced his hands to move and caught her by her waist, the desire inside him arose and he wanted more than just kisses. But the dream ended. Again the awakening was as sudden as it was during his time in the Spire. He watched the ceiling and thought about his dream that felt so real this time. _Too real_, he thought when he looked under his blanket. Before anything else he'll need a shower.

After the morning training he took a shower again and went to the Hall of Freedom to check the request board to find some easier tasks. The recovery procedures became boring, so he wanted at least some change. Health-wise he was already alright, but he still needed to work on getting back his former strength and agility. Fortunately his reflexes didn't recede much, he would probably freak out if his reactions became too slow. He read several requests, until he found one that caught his attention. It was very simple, delivery of some packages to several places, the interesting thing was, that one of the places was Kaisinel's Beacon. He didn't have to think twice to decide if he should use it to see the woman from his dreams again.

~ x ~

Canta has left for the whole day to hand over her monthly report to Sanctum and Shien suddenly felt very alone in the Beacon. The requests for portal to Danuar Spire appeared only few times a day, she could spend the remaining time all by herself. She wasn't allowed to be slacking off, it was still a warzone here, but she was relieved from the regular watch duties, they needed her to create a portal immediately in case of emergency. There was a several things a sorceress of her qualities could do. They didn't let her to even look at the fortress's shields, she was an Asmodian after all, but some really welcomed her help with preparing potions and magical scrolls. The time when she was free from the lab she usually spent either in the modest library or walked to the ruins uphill at the edge of the fortress and tried to practice spells. She had to tell her commanding officer where she was going so they could call her when needed, but she could be alone here, without all those annoying Elyos around. Her body refused to cast any offensive spells when there was someone else. Even though they were Elyos, she was scared to unitentionally harm them.

After making sure she was really alone, she opened her palms and summoned small flames. Then she shaped them into spirals, flowers or simple ornaments to make sure she still could control them. Her heart was beating faster, when she put more power into the spell while maintaining the control over its shape.

"Get down!" someone bumped into her, tumbled her down and landed on her. Then he shifted his weight off her and asked: "Are you alright?"

When Shien recovered from the initial shock, she recognized it was that Canta's friend called Shade. She felt a sudden loss of breath from her snuffed out spell and she couldn't reply, just stared at him. And her head hurt, it must have hit the ground when she fell.

"Stay down, I'll deal with it," he said with serious face and carefully looked around while unseathing his daggers.

_Deal with what?_ She wanted to ask, but then she noticed two arrows jabbed into a tree above her. Balaur arrows.

"What's..." she sat up.

"Stay down," he hissed. "And shield yourself."

Shien looked around and tried to calm down. At one place, between the bushes she thought she saw some movement, but when she turned to Shade again, he wasn't there. But he was an assassin, it was expected he wasn't seen. Shien stood up, clenched her fist and created a shield. Just in time, two more arrows flew at her and the aetheric field deflected them. She stretched her hand towards the direction where they came from and froze. _What if Shade is there too? What if I strike him instead of the Balaur?_ Those chaotic thoughts and doubts whirled through her mind and completely paralyzed her. Her whole body started shaking. When a Balaur soldier with a huge wooden club with metal rings and spikes in his hand appeared, she was so taken by her fears she couldn't even shout for help. The Balaur swung his club and shattered Shien's shield and sent her flying few meters back. Before she could get up, he was attacking again. She dodged, but not completely. The club hit her calf and broke it. She screamed with pain.

_Where is Shade?_ A thought of panic flashed through her mind. _Did he... left? Am I alone here? Alone..._ She looked at the Balaur again. He looked like he was thinking where his next attack should land. He was enjoying her pain, her suffering. His cruel gaze made the suppressed anger inside her boil. She stretched her hands towards him and in an instant conjured a giant fireball. The heat from the explosion surprised even her.

"So you wanna play tricks?" the Balaur roared in agony. The skin on his face and his upper arms, where it wasn't hidden under armor, was burnt and covered with blisters. He dropped his weapon, caught Shien by her neck and lifted her from the ground. "How do you like it now, mageling?" his grip became tighter. Shien's vision blurred and her consciousness begun to fade. "You worthless deava scum!" he shouted and threw her away. Her body slammed against a large remnants of some building and dropped to the ground again. She coughed to get her breath again, not able to pay any attention to what was going around.

"Are you... alright?" suddenly Shade was kneeling beside her, heavily breathing. The Balaur was lying motionless not far from them, she could see blood flowing from his neck.

"What... where...?" she was confused.

"I'm sorry, it took me so long, miss Shienar, the archer was better than I expected," he apologised. Shien noticed several cuts on his body and pool of blood forming under him. "I would come sooner, but I haven't fully recovered yet."

"You're bleeding," she finally managed to say something.

"Yes, yes, I know, let's find clerics," he smiled feebly and tried to stand, but wound on his leg caused him to fall back and sit heavily to the ground. "Alright, can you go by yourself? I'll wait here."

"I can't walk," she shook her head and took her small herb knife. Then she cut his pants to reveal really bad cut on his inner thigh.

"You could have just ask me to take the pants off..."

"Shut up, you're bleeding," she snapped and pressed her hand on the wound. "Sorry, this will hurt," she said and called aether to burn the tissues. Shade screamed in agony.

"You must... really... hate us," he hissed when she stopped.

"What? I didn't... it's not because you're an Elyos," anger was taking over her again. "I did it because you're Canta's friend!"

"You have strange sense of friendship then," he grinned. The pain from her saving action was not that sharp anymore and he could concentrate on other things freely.

"With that wound you would have bleed out in two minutes!" she yelled. "I had to do something to stop the bleeding! I'm sorry I'm not a cler..."

Shade didn't wait for her to finish the sentence. He pulled her towards him and gently kissed her. Shien immediately broke away from his embrace and slapped him across his cheek, adding few new cuts.

"What do you think you're doing!" she screamed and crawled away. "Don't touch me! Ever again!"

"Now I can die happy," he chuckled and laid onto the ground. For few moments he watched the trees and sky above him and then he closed his eyes. He was tired, he wanted to sleep.

"Hey! What do you mean by _dying_? Don't you dare to die!" Shien crawled back. "Don't die! Come on, Shade, don't die."

"The obelisk is not that far," he whispered, his eyes still closed.

"That's not the point. Every death has its consequences and it could even be your final death if the aether decides to reject you!"

"What happened here?!" an Elyos patrol finally showed up. None of them was a cleric, as far as Shien remembered, but chanter was good enough to save lives too.

"Get away from him!" the chantress yelled. Shien looked at her in surprise.

"We fought the Balaur, not among ourselves," the sorceress retorted. "And he's badly injured, he needs help immediately."

"She's right, Nonni," the templar in the patrol agreed. "Just look around and you'll see too. And he really looks bad, help him, I'll check the surroundings."

"Alright," she nodded and knelt beside Shade. "My apologies, miss."

"The worst wound is on his leg, I had to burn it, he would bleed out," Shien pretended nothing happened.

The templar returned soon, assured them there are no living Balaur in the area and then went to the fortress to get more help. The chantress was good to stabilise both wounded deavas, but it still wasn't enough for them to walk away by themselves. After they were tended and Shien got a splint on her leg, general Tirins insisted on their questioning immediately. The sorceress willingly told him everything except the kiss, but the general was still displeased.

"How could those Balaur get past the fortress's aetheric field without us noticing?" he asked again. It was at least four times of this question being asked today.

"And how am _I_ supposed to know?" Shien's patience ran out. "You won't let me even look at it, ask _your_ sorcerers or whom to find out!"

"Mind your manners, miss. You're important, because you're the only one here who can create portal to Danuar Spire, but I can always ask for replacement," the general frowned.

"Please do, I doubt there's a worse place for me than this," she grunted.

The general sighed. Talking to this woman was always difficult, one didn't need the Balaur sneaking inside the Beacon to make her irritated.

"Thank you for your cooperation, miss, you can go now," there was no need to prolonge the questioning. "But please remember, until further notice, stay within the fortress or within the sight from the fortress, I don't want situation like this to repeat. Next time you might not be that lucky to have a master assassin looking for you."

Without a word Shien got up, bowed and slowly walked away leaning on her borrowed walking stick. She took a book from the library and went to a bench near the teleport station. There were always some people passing by, but while reading a book she could easily ignore them.

"It's good to see you doing better," Shade sat on the bench next to her. Shien pretended he's not there and tried to continue reading, but one thought crawled into her mind. _He was looking for me. Why?_ "Miss Shienar, I'm sorry for what I did. I never intended to hurt you. At that moment... nothing but you existed for me."

"General Tirins said you were looking for me. Why?" she asked without taking her eyes off the pages, although she couldn't concentrate on the text.

"Ah, well, I just wanted to see you," he chuckled, but in a blink of an eye his voice became serious. "And I'm glad I've chosen today. It would be really sad if..."

"Shut up," she closed the book with a thud and looked at him angrily. He still looked pale from the blood loss, but better than before. "And don't preted like you care about me. You got what you wanted, now get the hell out of here."

"No, I haven't, miss Shienar," he shook his head. Shien froze. "I just wanted to talk with you. Just talk. I won't come any closer or touch you unless you wish it."

"Okay, what do you want to talk about?" if her leg was alright, she would be long gone, but now she had to stay. _He's Canta's friend, he can't be a bad person. But Canta is naïve, she could be idolising him_.

"I must admit, I've been dreaming about you since I was carried into Danuar Spire..."

"You didn't know me back then," she objected. She didn't like the direction of this conversation.

"You're right, I didn't," he smiled. "In my dreams, there was fire. And a perfect being with sunset-red hair who always kissed me just before the dream ended. I never saw her appearance."

"I haven't kissed you," Shien blushed and looked aside.

"Hah, I know that, I knew you wouldn't kiss me..."

"You were dying," she interposed. "I... I just gave you breath. To save your life. No... kissing..."

"Oh," Shade couldn't be more surprised at the moment. "That... explains a lot. I almost thought I've been halucinating from exhaustion," he laughed. "You surely know a lot about saving lives. I haven't seen many sorcerers to have such knowledge."

"My best friend is... she was a cleric."

"I'm sorry for your loss."

"Don't be, I'm fine," she smiled as she remembered the last time she saw Alia. She couldn't tell this assassin the truth, but she couldn't pretend to mourn either.

"You have a good heart, miss Shienar," Shade got up, gently took her hand and kissed the back of it. "And you should smile more often."

She looked at him speechless, her cheeks slowly became more and more red.

"I gotta go, I bet they already miss me in Sanctum. Take care," he smiled and went to the teleporter.


	3. Chapter 03

It was a late evening when Canta returned to the Beacon and Shien was already in her bed, but couldn't sleep. The events of the day still kept her mind occupied and her thoughts always returned to that one moment. He kissed her. She could still feel the touch of his lips on hers. Part of her wished for that moment to repeat, but mostly she was terrified. And angry. All those feelings made her conscious self confused.

"Ah, Shien, you're still awake," Canta breathed out in surprise. "I thought you'd be sleeping by now..."

"You said you can't see in the dark..." Shien said blankly.

"Well, you know, your eyes are glowing," Canta shrugged, played few tones and the lamp on the table enlightened the room. "Oh! You're injured! What happened?"

"The Balaur attacked, but it's okay now, they're dead," the sorceress sat on her bed. "How was your day? Did you meet your friends?" she quickly changed the topic before Canta could start asking for details.

"Yes, I did," the songweaver saddened. "It was... ah, never mind," she waved her hand and looked into her bag. "You know what's strange, Shien? I think there's something more between you and lady May than you told me."

"What do you mean?" the Asmodian was confused.

"I was there. To give her my report. My first report ever. She read it. And asked about you. And then she sent you this," Canta gave her a small package neatly wrapped in waxed paper. "And she said I shouldn't tell anyone."

"Thank you," Shien took the package and put it ino her lap. "Now tell me why are you angry. Is it because of this?"

"No," the songweaver frowned. "I keep forgetting lady May wasn't always a _Lady_, so if you share some history with her, it's your business. She cares about you a lot, that's somewhat intriguing. But you don't have to tell me, it could be dangerous. I mean, someone could hurt you just to get to her. She's right with keeping it secret. Those whispers about her affair with lord Zikel are enough to cause her trouble."

"Is that what's making you so angry?"

"No, it's... not that. She has every right to love anyone she wants, I suppose. I just heard all those really bad things about him, I can't understand how someone so kind as her would... uhm... stay with him. I know they're not exactly together but you know what I mean, right?"

"Maybe that's because she's _that_ kind? Anyone else wouldn't be able to do that," Shien unintentionally smiled when she remembered talks with her friend. "And he has his good side too, he's just too proud to show it."

"I guess... that's the case," Canta sighed. "Can you... I don't want to sound nosy, but I'm really curious this time. Can you unpack that..." she pointed at the package in Shien's lap.

"Alright," the sorceress nodded and for a moment she fought with the ribbon before she could open the gift from the Lady of Life. Then she lost her breath fro few seconds. "Oh, wow... thank you very much, Canta. When you see A... lady May again, tell her... just... give her my thanks, this is awesome," she reached inside and took one chocolate candy which she immediately ate.

"It's just a candy," the songweaver blinked few times in disbelief. "What's so special about it?"

"This is the most awesome super-candy in the world. And because these cherries don't grow in Asmodae, it's extremely rare there. I had it once, some shugo was selling it. It's just the best!" she reached into the package again and consumed another two pieces. "Want some?"

"No, thanks, chocolate is..." Canta wanted to refuse, but suddenly her eyes filled with tears and she sobbed: "I don't care anymore, give me some."

"Here... what happened?" Shien was confused.

"I... I went to see my friends," Canta started after she ate a candy. "I haven't seen them in more than month, I missed them and I thought they will be happy to see me. But do you know what they said? _How can you come to us dressed like this?_ What kind of question is that? What's wrong with these clothes?"

"Uhm, nothing, it looks quite normal to me."

"That's what I told them too, I also told them that it's much more comfortable and practical than what they were wearing. I was... I was trying to tell them about what I'm doing and what happened, but they didn't care. They just... They said they heard about my _silly adventures_ and sent me away and said they won't talk to me anymore. I don't understand, why would they change so much?"

"Is it really them who changed? Or is it you?" Shien pointed out. "Think about it a bit. I know it must be hard for you now, but they weren't friends. I know that. I've been through that too. On my Ascension ceremony I met a shy girl who just Ascended too. It was her first time in Pandaemonium, she was from very poor village and of course all those nobles pretended she wasn't even there. Somehow we started chatting and I found out she was really nice person and we became friends. But after the ceremony my mother told me that if I continue talking with that girl, all my noble friends will stop talking to me. I couldn't believe it, if they were friends they wouldn't do it, right? But guess what?"

"They stopped?"

"Of course they stopped. I got over it after some time. I was assigned to various duties as a daeva, so I met a lot of people who cared about more than dress and titles and social status. Because true friends don't care about these, they care about you, about your dreams, your worries and they won't abandon you just because you talk to someone else or because your dress doesn't glitter enough."

~ x ~

Chellia was sitting on her bed and staring blankly at the wall of her new room. After the clerics confirmed she was alright, except not even they couldn't save her left eye, she was immediately transported to Kamar where she was accommodated directly in Kahrun's palace. All the things from her old studio in Pernon were moved here too, her mother took care of it right after Chellia woke up in Danuar Spire. Her mother... it was strange to suddenly know she wasn't an orphan, let alone _who_ her parents were. Her origin was no longer unknown or secret and out of blue she had to deal with attention she didn't want. She wanted... she wasn't even sure about that. Part of her wanted to return back to Pandaemonium to be the tailor's apprentice again. But other part wanted to just die. What Beritra did to her, what he forced her to do, was more than she was able to handle. And everything she looked at, everything she heard, touched, smelled reminded her of that time of never-ceasing terror.

A fresh breeze blew into the room and disrupted her thoughts. She looked at the window and pondered if she should close it or leave it open. A sound of something falling into her blankets caught her attention. A blue and white creature stood there and watched her with its red eyes. Even with its long fur it had twenty centimeters of height at most and its paws had no claws. Chellia has never seen an animal like this and wondered what species could it belong to.

"Shoo! Shoo!" she tried to send it away, but it just tilted its head and looked at her with an expression: _Do I look like a butterfly to you?_

"Fine, stay here then," Chellia frowned. "I have an audience now."

She got up and went to the door. There she noticed the creature jumped down from the bed and followed her, so she sneaked through the door and closed it before that entity could reach it. But after she made few steps she heard a whizzing sound. She turned around and couldn't believe her eye. That little animal or whatever it was just squeezed through the chink under the door and then shook to regain its former shape. And gave Chellia a very aggrieved look.

"Just what are you?" she asked, but the creature only came to her and brushed against her feet, murmurring. "Don't follow me!"

The girl quickly paced across the hall in the direction to Kahrun's office and looked back. The white and blue furball jumped after her. And no matter where she went or turned around the corner, that strange creature tailed her everywhere like a faithful dog. Though its movements reminded more of a cat. After few wrong turns she decided to ignore it. Whatever it was it would surely lose its interest in her if she won't react. In front of the door to her destination she was stopped by two guards.

"What is your business here?" one of them asked strictly.

"I have an audience with commander Kahrun," she replied with calm voice, although she wasn't sure what to expect.

"You?" he asked with suspicion.

"Hey, dude," the other guard poked his colleague and hissed: "She's the Young Lady."

"What?" he looked at Chellia again. "Oh, crap. My apologies, lady. Of course you can enter."

They bowed and let her pass. The creature swaggered after her and obviously enjoyed the guards' confused looks.

"Hello, Chellia, how are you feeling?" Kahrun greeted her. "Please, have a seat."

"Thank you," she sat into one of the armchairs in front of his desk. The furball jumped into the other one and inspected the Reian leader carefully.

"Why is this here?" he asked.

"I don't know," the girl shrugged. "It keeps following me since this morning. I don't even know what is it or where it came from."

"It's a wind spirit, someone had to summon it," Kahrun frowned. "And it looks intelligent, it was someone powerful. Why are you here, spirit?"

The little creature jumped onto the table directly between him and Chellia. Then it looked at him and fluffed out.

"Oh, so you're supposed to protect her?"

The spirit nodded proudly.

"Alright, I get it," Kahrun smiled. "Don't worry, I won't hurt her," he tried to pat the spirit's head, but it evaded and bit him. It felt like a baby tornado in his palm.

"Who sent you? Was it Kaisinel?" Chellia asked suddenly. The spirit let go of Kahrun's hand, turned to her and hesitantly nodded. "Then go back to your master and tell him that... that... Don't look at me like that!" the spirit made a such sad expression that every puppy or kitten would envy it. "Fine. You can stay with me," she blushed and looked aside. The creature jumped from the table and cuddled into almost perfect ball in her lap. "Hey, what... I'm sorry, sir Kahrun, I didn't..."

"That's alright. If lord Kaisinel sent you a guardian, it's between you and him. As long as this spirit doesn't do anything against my people, it can stay."

"Okay."

"Now why did I call you here. As you know, you're important person for keeping peace between the Elyos and Asmodians. That's why I want you to stay here in Kamar so they won't argue who has you on their side. I would love to give you as much freedom as possible, but Beritra is still after you, so you're forbidden to leave the city for now. You can go to any public places within Kamar, but not outside. If you find any reason to leave, go to me directly. I'm sorry to restrain you like this, but I can't afford to leave you to Beritra again. Or Tiamat, who might be after you too. Do you understand?"

"Yes," she nodded with serious face. "I won't leave the city. I... don't want to go back either."

"Good. We still need to ask you what happened when you were captured," Kahrun continued. "Lady Triniel insisted that we should wait until you get better, but you look alright now, so unless you have any objections, I'll schedule it for tomorrow. Sanctum and Pandaemonium will want to have their representatives here, I assume lady Triniel and lord Nezekan will want to be here, but they can decide on someone else. I know it must be painful for you, but try to remember as much as you can."

"I understand."

"After we get the answers, I would like to integrate you into Kamar's daily life. Don't look so scared, you're a daeva, I can't leave you just wandering around, it would be waste of your potential. And you would be bored soon. We'll probably have to do some tests, but after that you'll get a proper training and get some duties based on your specialisation. Do you have something in your mind now?"

"I was a tailor's apprentice in Pandaemonium," she said. "I can make any types of clothes or leather armor."

"You also need to learn how to fight."

"I know. I always dreamed to be an assassin if I ever Ascend, but it seems I have a talent for guns instead of daggers. And this..." she touched her eye-patch. "I don't know what use I can be with only one eye."

"The clerics didn't say anything?"

"They said they have never seen anything like this before," she shrugged. "And they can't heal it with their usual methods."

"Don't worry. I know good daevas who have lost one eye and it didn't affect their abilities much. If you pass the criteria for an assassin training, you can be an assassin and have the guns as a bonus," Kahrun smiled. "I've said what I needed, unless you have any questions, you may go. Only remember you should stay in Kamar."

"Thank you, sir Kahrun, I have no questions now," she got up, attempting to hold the spirit in her arms, but it stretched and with natural elegance it jumped on the floor. "I'll be ready tomorrow."

Chellia left the Reian leader's office and for several minutes she wandered aimlessly through the palace, followed by the playful spirit. While roaming around she found her way to the palace garden. It was quite nice and rich considering Kamar was on the edge of a vast desert. The trees were mostly huge palms, but she could see other species among them too. She chose a far corner, sat under one of the palms and hugged her knees. The spirit circled her with curiosity, but Chellia paid it no attention, so it came closer, leaned against her calves and licked her nose. It felt like a wet breeze.

"Do you have a name, spirit?" she asked blankly. The fluffy creature shook its head. "But names are important, you know? You should have one. But only one, having more names is bad for your soul. So if you don't have a name, I shall give you one, okay?" Chellia smiled and patted the spirit's head. "You will be... hm... what should I call you? What about Ouzo?"

The spirit's excitement about getting a new name instantly disappeared. It gave the girl a really sad look and yelped.

"You don't like it? But you're a spirit, so it's an appropriate name. And it sounds like you when you're trying to squeeze under a door."

The spirit sighed in resignation.

~ x ~

"Ah, Triniel, you cut your hair? You look much better like this, I wonder what's the occasion?" Lumiel greeted her with a smile.

"Stop it, Lumiel, do you have nothing better to do?" the Lady of Death replied coldly.

"To be honest, no. Everything is so boring," she got up and paced across her room. "Every report I read have been here some time before already. Those people will never learn. I hoped the conference and the truce will entertain me for a while, but it was really a short while. I think I might follow your sister's example and pass my power to someone else. If only there was anyone I could trust."

"You're not serious, right?" Triniel frowned. "You can't just get away from everything."

"Maybe. Maybe not," the sorceress shrugged. "Don't worry, there's no one I would entrust this power anyway. Why are you here?"

"Kahrun sent us a message he'll question Chellia tomorrow and we can participate if we want. Azphel doesn't want me to go, but he gave me freedom to choose who will. And I'm asking you."

"Oh, that's really unexpected," Lumiel was surprised. "I thought you'll be more adamant in going there."

"No, Azphel is right," Triniel shook her head. "I would love to be there for Chellia, but my emotions would only be in the way. And I'm sure she wouldn't be comfortable with me or Nezekan there when she'll be talking about all those bad things that happened to her."

"I'm glad to see you're back to your former self," the Lady of Wisdom smiled. "Sure, I'll go. I haven't seen your girl since I put that seal on her."

"Thank you."

~ x ~

It has been just few days since she found out she'll have a baby and May already felt like her life has been turned completely upside down. No other major change happened, but her thoughts were even more distracted than before the conference. She knew she should calm down and avoid stress, but she couldn't. The risk of others finding out was too big. And she didn't know how to tell them, she was afraid they'll order her to put the baby away. And she would never do that. She looked again at the plate with her breakfast, sighed and forced herself to eat at least half of it. She wouldn't mind starving for a while, but the baby needed the food. After the meal she left her house and went to the council hall where the Seraphim lords and generals had their regular forthnightly meeting. The topics usually varied depending on what happened all over the Elysea, but this time it all seemed to involve Asmodians and the truce. Which wasn't so surprising. May could barely pay attention. After the generals left and only the Lords remains in the room, everyone turned their gaze upon her.

"Are you alright?" Nezekan asked with concern.

"Yes, of course, I'm fine," she felt guilty for making them worried. "I'm just a bit anxious about how long the truce will last."

"We all are worried about that, May," Kaisinel grunted. "You'd better focus on your duties to get these thoughts out of your head."

"Yes, I should do that," May sighed. "I'm sorry."

"But you look really pale, are you sure you're alright?" Vaizel asked with serious voice.

"Yes, Vaizel, I'm perfectly fine, thank you for your concern," she aswered ignoring the hidden hint. She couldn't tell them. Not yet.

"I'm certain May is reasonable enough to tell us if there was something wrong," Ariel closed the matter. "More importantly, I got message from the Reians, they will question Chellia tomorrow and invited us to bring our representative. No, Nezekan, you won't go," she stopped him before he could speak. "I know you would like to, but since she's your daughter, it would cause problems with the interrogation. I would like to send someone who doesn't have any relationship with her. Kaisinel?"

"I'm sorry, lady Ariel, but I've been in her mind. I know all about her and she knows that. It wouldn't be wise to send me."

"Alright, I'll go then," Vaizel grinned. "She's a pretty girl, so..."

"Don't even try that," Nezekan frowned and pierced Vaizel with his gaze.

"Don't be so over-protective, Daddy, she's adult and a daeva. And have you read Shade's report? I wouldn't be the first one to..."

Nezekan got up and caught Vaizel by his collar.

"Don't. You. Dare. To. Touch her," he spat though gritted teeth.

"Calm down, Nezekan," Ariel raised her voice. "And you too, Vaizel."

"I'm sorry, lady Ariel," Nezekan let go of Vaizel. "But Chellia has been terribly hurt by Beritra, I won't let anyone, not even ally to..."

"That's enough," the Lady of Light stopped him. "We all know you care about her. But we need someone there. You and Kaisinel can't go and Vaizel has enough experience in asking the right questions. I'm sure even he can be serious when it's required."

"Yes, of course, lady Ariel," Vaizel replied, fully aware of the sharpness in her voice.

"I could go," May said silently. Everyone looked at her. "I know you don't fully trust me, especially after what happened in Sarpan, but I can be of some use too."

"You only want to use the chance for meeting Zikel," Kaisinel grunted.

"Kaisinel, please stop this. Yes, I miss him, but I don't think they would send him. I believe lady Triniel wouldn't allow it because of his temper. She wants to protect the girl too, right?"

"Very well then, May, you will go," Ariel decided. "If by any chance they send Zikel, please restrain yourself from intimate activities."

"Yes, lady Ariel, as you wish."

"And Vaizel, you will help May with preparations, she's still unexperienced with interrogations. If none of you has any questions, I'm ending this meeting."

~ x ~

Chellia was sitting in a comfortable armchair in a neatly decorated lounge and awaited arrival of the Elyos representative. Kahrun and lady Lumiel were already there, drinking tea and talking casually. They didn't seem to pay her attention, but she knew they did so because she felt more comfortable like this. Ouzo was half-sleeping in her lap and she was mechanically caressing its back. The door opened and Chellia froze. Ouzo woke up.

"Ah, lady May, it's a surprise to see _you_ here," lady Lumiel got up and greeted the newcomer.

_Lady May? But... how?_ Chellia stared at her.

"I apologise for the delay," the lady of Life said and formally greeted with the Reian leader and the Lady of Wisdom.

_Even the voice is the same._

"And you're Chellia, right? It's nice to meet you," she smiled and only Chellia saw that her lips formed silent _again_.

_So it's her. And she remembers me._

"Uh, hm, hi," the girl said and looked at Kahrun. "I think we can start."

They sat into those comfortable armchairs and let Chellia to tell them her story. She didn't exclude any part of it and told them everything, though few times she had to stop to calm down, which earned her Ouzo's worried looks. The spirit's presence was calming and she was able to tell them even about Cyhiraeth's death and the discovery of Hyperion without running away in tears. After she told them what she remembered and they had no other questions, May checked her lost eye and had to sadly inform her, that even she cannot regenerate it, as something was blocking any healing magic.

"Let me check it," Lumiel got up and inspected the injury herself. "There is some kind of seal. It's very well hidden and I don't dare to remove it, it could damage your brain or even kill you. Hyperion has marked you somehow, I don't know if it's for good or bad, but I'd suggest to keep this to ourselves. We can never know if someone is listening and until we actually _find_ a Hyperion, it's useless. Better safe than sorry."

"Do you have some particular danger in mind, lady Lumiel?" May asked.

"Beritra, Tiamat, Ereshkigal, Lepharists."

"Ereshkigal?" Kahrun raised his eyebrows in surprise. "I thought he has secluded himself from this war after the Cataclysm."

"No, he's always somewhere near," the Lady of Wisdom shook her head. "Unlike other Balaur, his mind is cold as ice and he's thoroughly calculating his every move. Just because we don't see him, doesn't mean he's not there. And Hyperion is exactly the thing he would risk to be revealed for. Everyone would."

~ x ~

A hooded man read the reports from his spies. The discoveries they brought to him were not special at the slightest. All but two. And those two were completely different case. One of them already got to public and he didn't doubt the Dragon lords have heard about it, but the other... He could do anything he wanted with this knowledge. Sell it, blackmail that person, or even give it to someone for free and see what happens. After few minutes of thinking an analyzing he was sure he'll use both. He teleported from his hideout directly into Tiamat's Stronghold. Teleportation was never a problem for him.

"You!" the Dragon lady sensed his presence and almost immediately appeared in front of him. "What do _you_ want here?"

"Hello, Tiamat," he smiled. "I came to offer you a deal. You have something I want."


End file.
